Mechanism for operating stock-supports for nailing-machines



2 SheetsSheet 1.

(No Model.)

S. M. CUTTER. MECHANISM FOR OPERATING STOCK SUPPORTS FOR NAILINGMACHINES.

Patented May 11, 1897.

(No Model.)

2 Sheets--Sheet 2. S. M. CUTTER. MECHANISM FOR OPERATING STOCK SUPPORTSFOR NAILING MACHINES.

No. 582,580. Patented May 11,1897,

A Fair WiEESSEE ATENT ICEQ UNITE STATES SOLOMON M. CUTTER, OF NASHUA,NEV HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE \VIRE GRIPFASTENING COMPANY, OF BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS.

MECHANISM FOR OPERATING STOCK-SUPPORTS FOR NAlLlNG-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 582,580, dated May 11,1897.

A li ti fil d December 2, 1895. Serial No. 570,767. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: nected to a suitable treadle which has beenBe it known that I, SOLOMON M. CUTTER, operated by the operator to lowersaid supof Nashua, in the county of Hillsborough and port against theinfluence of a suitable spring State of New Hampshire, have inventedceror weight which normally held said support tain new and usefulImprovements in Mechin working position or said supports have 55 anismsto Operate Stock-Supports forNailingbeen connected with the starting andstop- Machines, of which the following, taken in ping treadle and raisedor lowered, respecconnection with the accompanying drawings, tively, bythe starting or stopping of the mais a specification. chine by saidtreadle. In the former case it This invention relates to improvements innecessitated the operation of two treadles 6o mechanism for operatinghorn or other stock when an operator removed the stock from the supportson nailing, pegging, or similar, masupport when finished and replaced itwith chines; and its objects are to cause the horn other stock, as hewas obliged to release the to be forced upward to its working positionpressure on the starting and stopping treadle by the first movements ofthe machine after to stop the machine and then to depress the 65 beingstarted by the starting mechanism, to treadle attached to the support tolower said cause said horn to remain in its Working posupport in orderto remove the stock theresition so long as the nailing, pegging, orother from. The use of such adevice not only consimilar machine is keptin motion and drivsumed time in its operation, but was inconing nails,pegs, &c., and to allow said horn to venient for the operator tomanipulate. In 70 automatically lower itself when the machine the lattercase, where the stock-support is atis stopped by the operation of ,thestopping tached to and operated with the starting and mechanism andafter the nailing, pegging, or stopping treadle, the necessity of usingtwo other mechanism has completed the operation independent treadles isdone away with, but of driving the nail, peg, &c. by the attaching ofboth the starting and 75 With these objects in view the inventionstopping mechanism and the stock-supportis carried out substantially asillustrated in operating mechanism to one and the same the accompanyingdrawings, wherein treadle it requires so much additional force Figure 1represents a sectional side elevato operate said treadle that itconstitutes an tion of one of the forms of my invention apobjection tosuch a construction or arrange- 8o plied to a boot and shoe nailingmachine. ment. Fig. 2 represents a sectional plan view of a My presentinvention is to overcome the portion of the driving-shaft of thenailingobjections found in both of the constructions machine shown inFig. 1, showing a part of now in use; and to accomplish this object I 5the mechanism used to cause the automatic cause thestock-support-operating mechanism 85 operation of the stock-support.Fig. 3 repto be operated by suitable mechanism conresents a detailedhorizontal section on the nected with the driving-shaft of the machineline A B in Fig. 1, showing another portion on which the stock-supportis to be used, and of the automatic mechanism to operate the preferablyhave the mechanism which is em- 0 stock-support. Fig. 4 represents asectional ployed to place the stock-support into Work- 0 side elevation,similar to that shown in Fig. ing position operated by the firstmovement 1, of a modified form of the invention. Fig. of thedriving-shaft after it has been started 5 represents a detail view of acam used in by the starting mechanism, and to have the the device shownin Fig. 4. Fig. 6 represents mechanism which is employed to withdraw adetailed vertical section on the line C D said support from its workingposition oper- 5 shown in Fig. 4:. ated by the last movement of thedriving- Like characters of reference indicate like shaft after thestopping mechanism has been parts on the different parts of thedrawings. operated. \Vith the support-actuatingmech- Heretoforestock-supports used on the maanism above described I use alocking devicechine above mentioned have either been conwhich insures thestock-support remaining in [00 working position during the rotations ofthe driving-shaft.

On the drawings I have illustrated my invention as applied to anailing-machine for nailing boots and shoes, having the head 1, providedwith the driving-shaft 2 and driving-pulley 3, said head being mountedupon a suitable standard or base 4, provided with a starting andstopping treadle 5, f ulerumed at 6 to said standard and having the rod7 extended upward from said treadle to a suitable starting and stoppingmechanism on the head of the machine. As such starting and stoppingmechanism forms no essential part of this present invention and maybereplaced by many of the common and well-known mechanisms now in use, Ishall not enter into any detailed description of such mechanism, butwill simply say that the treadle 5 is depressed to cause the starting ofthe machine and allowed to rise to cause the stopping of the machine.

The machine on which myim proved device is to be used may be providedwith an automatieally-operating mechanism to periodically depress thestock-support to allow the feeding of the stock the desired distancebetween the nails or pegs, which mechanism is independent of themechanism to automatically raise said support at the starting and lowerit at the stopping of the machine, and I-have illustrated on thedrawings a suitable mechanism for this purpose, which will be describedhereinafter, but which forms a part of an invention for which I filed anapplication for Letters Patent of the United States on the 17th day ofOctober, 1895, which application bears Serial No. 565,932, and to whichapplication reference maybe made for a full and complete description.

The standard or base is also provided with an upward and downwardadjustable stocksupport 8 and mechanism to adjust said support, whichsupport may be made in several parts, as shown, or it may be made in onesingle piece, it so desired. The adjusting mechanism may consist ofsuitable toggles 9 and 10, pivotally attached to the lower end of thestock-support, as shown in Fig. 1, or it may consist of a suitable camlever or levers 1.1, acting upon projections 12 on the stocksupport, asshown in Fig. l, or it may consist of any other suitable device wherebysaid support may be raised or lowered, as desired. To provide meanswhereby the stock-support may be lowered by the operator independent ofthe devices above described, I provide the standard with a secondtreadle 13, also fulcrumed at (3 to said standard and connected to thestock-support by the link 14, which is connected at one end to theforward part of the treadle and at the opposite end pivotally connectedto the lower end of the toggle 10, as shown in Fig. 1, or said link maybe provided with a socket 15, within which the lower end of thestock-support is guided in its upward and downward movements, as shownin Fig. 6. A spring 16 acts upon the treadle 13 and tends to force thestock-support upward with a yielding pressure, as will be fullyunderstood by reference to the drawings, and similar to many of thedevices now in common use for this purpose. In the machine illustratedin Figs. 4., 5, and U the cam-levers 1.1 are fulcrumed at 17 to the linkll, substantially as shown.

My improved device to automatically operate the stock-support, asillustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 23, is constructed substantially asfollows: Upon the driving'shaft of the machine is ii rmly mounted thecam or disk 18, having the cam-recess 10, as shown by dotted lines inFig. 1 and full lines in Fig. 2. The vertical rod or shaft 20 is mountedand rotatable within suitable bearings 21 on the head of the machine andwithin a suitable plate 22, attached to or made in one piece with thestandard. The arm 2 is firmly mounted on the upper end of this verticalshaft, and to said arm is pivotally attached the pin or bolt 24, thefree end of which is held in contact with the side of the cam 18 with ayielding pressure by means of the spring 25, which surrounds the shaft20. The pin 2i is guided within the bearing 26 on the frame of theheadof the machine, and its free end is preferably provided with theantifriction-roll 27, which runs upon the surface of the side of the cam18. To the lower end of the shaft 20 is firmly mounted the arm 28, whichextends horizontally from said shaft on the top of the bearing-plate 22,and to the outer free end of the arm 28 is pivotally attached the link2!), which link is also pivotally attached to the toggles 9 10, asshown.

It will be seen that when the pin 2 on the arm 23 is in the positionshown on the drawings the link 29 will be held in such a position as toforce the toggles forward and hold the stock-support raised against theunder side of the stock and pressing said stock against the under sideof the work-plate on the head of the machine, but when said pin isforced into the cam-recess 19 by the action of the spring it will causethe shaft 20 to turn in its bearings in the direction of the arrow shownin Figs. 2 and 3, and thereby cause the link to be drawn toward the rearof the standard, which movement will operate the toggles and withdraw orlower the stock-support. The cam-recess 1.) is arranged in such aposition on the cam 18 as to be exactly in line with the pin Blwhen themachine has come to a full stop after the stopping mechanism. has beenoperated by the treadle 5, and when the cam-recess reaches such aposition the pin 94 will be forced into said recess by the influence ofthe spring 25. lVhen the machine is again started by the depression ofthe starting-treadle, the cam 18 will begin to rotate with thedrivingshaft and will at once cause the cam-recess 10 to force the pin2t out from said recess against the influence of the spring 25 andthrough the connections between said pin and the toggles will force thetoggles forward into the positions shown on the drawings, which movementwill cause the stock-support to be raised.

As there is but one cam-recesson the cam 18 into which the pin 24 can beforced and as said recess is never in proper position to receive saidpin excepting when the machine has finished a complete operation ofdriving a nail-peg or other work to be performed by said machine and isalways in proper position to receive said pin, just as the machine comesto a full stop the stock-support will always remain in its raisedposition until a complete operation of the machine has been made, orwhen the machine has come to a full stop by the operation of thestoppingtreadle.

It will be seen that the stock-support would be raised and lowered bythe action of the pin 24 and cam-recess 19 once in each and everyrotation of the driving-shaft. To prevent this and to have the pin enterthe recess in the cam only when the treadle is released to stop themachine, I provide the machine with a suitable locking device operatedby the treadle when starting the machine and acting to lock theautomatic stock-support-adjusting mechanism in such a position as tohold the stock support raised during the time that the treadle isdepressed and the machine is kept in motion, and such a locking devicehas been illustrated on the drawings as being constructed substantiallyas follows:

To the under side of plate 22 is attached the lever 30, which is pivotedat 31 thereto. This lever is provided in its forward end with theinclined or cam-shaped surface 32, and the projection 33 on thestarting-treadle comes in contact with said inclined surface when saidtreadle is depressed to start the machine, thereby causing said lever toturn on its ful-- crum. The pin 34 plays loosely through perforations inthe plate 22 and lever 30 and is forced upward with a yielding pressureby the action of a suitable spring 35. This spring is not ofSlllfiOlGlllJ strength to force the pin in the perforation in the plate22 and to cause it to project above the same when the projection on thetreadle is removed from contact with the inclined surface on the lever30 and said lever has swung downward, but is of sufficient strength toforce said pin through said perforation when the lever 30 is turnedupward by the action of the projection The locking-pin 34 is in such aposition on the plate 22 that when the stock-support is raised by itsautomatic mechanism above described said pin will be forced upwardthrough the perforation in the plate and be just behind and in contactwith the side of the arm 28. This will preventthe pin 24 from enteringthe recess in the cam 18 and will lock the stock-support in its raisedposition so long as the treadle 5 is depressed and the lever 30 isforced upward.

As the arm 28 occupies a position just above the perforation in theplate for the pin 34 when the stock-support is lowered and as said pinis forced upward immediately by the depression of the starting-treadleand before said arm can be moved by the action of the cam-recess 19, asabove described, said pin will come in contact with the under side ofsaid arm, but will yield against the influence of the spring 35, andwill be forced upward by said spring behind. said arm as soon as thestock-support has been raised.

The lever 30 is provided with the stock projection 36 to limit thedownward movement of said lever, substantially as shown.

In Figs. 4, 5, and 6 of the drawings my invention has been shown asapplied to a nailing-machine similar to that shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3,with the exception that the machine shown in Figs. 4 and 5 has astock-support S, which is raised or lowered by causing the lower end ofsaid support to slide up or down within the socket 15 in the link 14 bythe action of the cam-levers 11 upon the projections 12, as fully shownin Fig. 6, and in connection with such a machine my device isconstructed substantially as follows:

The cam 37 is firmly mounted upon the driving-shaft of the machine andis rotated therewith, said cam being provided with the cam-recess 38, asshown in Fig. 5.

The lever 39 is fulcrumed at 40 to the frame of the machine and isprovided with the antifriction-roll 41, which is acted upon by the cam37 to turn said lever upon its fulcrum, as will be fully understood byreference to the drawings. The free end of the lever 39 is pivoted tothe vertical rod 42, which extends downward through perforations in theframe and standard of the machine, said rod being pivotally attached atits lower end to the cam-levers 11, as shown in Fig. 4. The spring 43,attached at one end to the frame of the machine and at the other end tothe rod 42, tends to draw said rod upward and to keep the roll 41 incontact with the cam 37. The starting and stopping treadle 5 is providedwith the spring-catch 44,which springs over the end of the cam-levers l1and holds said levers in such a position that the stocksupport is raisedwhen the starting-treadle is depressed to start the machine, as shown inFig. 4.

With the several parts of the machine in the position shown on thedrawings and the stock nailed the operation of removing said stock andreplacing it by other stock to be nailed is as follows: Pressure isreleased by the starting and stopping treadle to stop the machine. Thiscauses the spring-catch to be withdrawn from the end of the cam-levers11 and allows the spring 43 to raise the rod 42 and force the roll 41into the cam-recess in the cam 37, which recess comes in line with saidroll when the machine is stopped. The raising of the rod 42 will turnthe cam-levers 11 upon their fulcra 17 on the link 14, there- IIO bywithdrawing said cam-levers from the projections 12 011 thestock-support and allowing said support to be lowered by its own weight.After removing the stock from the stock-support and replacing it byother stock to be operated upon the treadle 5 is depressed and themachine thereby started. This causes the cam 37 to act upon the roll 011the lever 39, and by forcing the rod 32 downward against the influenceof the spring 13 will turn the cam-levers 11 upon their fulcra and causesaid levers to raise the stock-support into working position. Thespring-catch 4:1,which has been brought into the path of the downwardmovement of the rear end of the camlevers by the depression of thetreadle 5, will yield and allow said lovers to pass said springcatchuntil said catch springs over the top of said levers and hold saidstock-support in its raised position during the operation on the stock.

To prevent the spring 16 from holding the stock-support upward when itis desired to have said support lowered by the automatic mechanism asabove described, I provide the machine with a suitable locking device tolock or prevent said spring from exerting its influence on thestock-support, and such locking device has been illustrated on Figs. 1and 3 of the drawings as consisting of the followin g mechanism, butother suitable lockin g devices may be substituted therefor withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

The toothed rack 15 is attached to some part of the mechanism moved bythe influence of the spring 16 when forcing the stocksupport upward andto such part as is between said spring and the means employed toautomatically raise and lower said support.

The locking-block 16, having teeth thereon corresponding with the teethof the rack 45, is attached to the link 47, which link is suspended atone end from the standard of the machine by means of the pivoted hanger4S and is attached to the free end of the arm 28 by means of a slidingjoint, substantially as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The spring 49 acts uponthe hanger 48 and tends to keep the teeth of the block 46 in engagementwith the teeth of the rack 45. The operation of this locking device isas follows: hen the machine is stopped and the arm 28 begins to movebackward to lower the support, the first movement of said arm allows thespring 49 to force the locking-block 16 into engagement with the rack45, and thereby locks the spring 16 from exerting an upward pressure onthe stock-support. This is accomplished before the stock-support hascommenced to be lowered by the action of said arm. The slidingconnection between the link 47 and the arm 28 allows said arm tocontinue its backward movement and operate the toggles to lower thesupport after the spring 16 has been locked. \Vhen the machine is againstarted and the arm is thereby moved forward to operate the toggles toraise the stock-support,

as above described, the first part of the movement of the said armoperates said toggles, and at or near the last part of the forwardmovement of said arm the locking-block is Withdrawn from contact withthe rack and the spring 16 is thereby released, so that it is free toforce said support upward with a yielding pressure, as described.

In Fig. 4 a similar locking device for the spring 16 has been shown, butin said device the link 47 has been shown as connected to the projection33 on the treadle 5 by means of a sliding connection. The operation ofthis locking device is the same as that shown in Figs. 1 and 3, butinstead of being operated by connection with the automaticstocksupport-adjusting mechanism it is operated by the movements of thestarting and stopping treadle. The spring 16 is locked by the firstmovement of the treadle 5 when the pressure is released from saidtreadle to stop the machine, and said spring is unlocked at or near thecompletion of the'downward movement of said treadle when starting themachine.

In the machine illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, as well as in themachine illustrated in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, the stock-support has beenshown as being provided with mechanism to periodically depress the sameto remove the pressure from the stock and allow it to be fed the desireddistance between the nails or pegs by the stock-feeding device on themachine,and said stock-support-operatin g mechanism is constructed asfollows: The cam 18 (shown in Fig. 1) or an independent cam 50, as shownin Fig. 4., is provided on one of its faces with a suitable cam-groove,(not shown on the drawings,) which acts upon a pin or roll 51, attachedto the block 52, to periodically raise and lower said block. The block52 is attached to the rod 53, the lower end of which is pivotallyattached to the rear end of the treadle 13, upon the forward part ofwhich the stock-support is mounted. Thus it will be seen that as theblock 52 is periodically raised and lowered during the time that thedriving-shaft is kept in motion the stocksupport will also beperiodically raised and depressed so long as the driving-shaft is keptin motion. This periodical depression of the stock-support takes placejust at the time that the stock is ready to be fed, and thereforeremoves the pressure from the stock during the feeding of the same.

It will be understood that the stock-support is free to be raised orlowered by the operation of the treadle 13 at anytime independent of theautomatic mechanism for adjusting said support.

Having thus fully described the nature, construction, and operation ofmy invention, I wish to secure by Letters Patentand claim- 1. Astock-support movable up and down, a driving-shaft, a cam on said shaftdriven thereby, and connections between said cam and stock supportoperated by said cam,

whereby the support is automatically raised by the first movement of thedriving-shaft when the machine is started and held in its raisedposition until the machine is stopped, for the purpose set forth.

2. A stock-support, and toggles to raise and lower said support, adriving-shaft, a cam on the driving-shaft driven thereby, andconnections between the cam and said toggles operated by said cam,whereby the support is raised automatically by the first movement of thedriving-shaft when the machine is started and held in its raisedposition, until the machine is stopped, for the purpose set forth.

8. In a nailing-machine, a stock-support, means to periodically depressit to allow the feeding of the stock, a driving-shaft, and in dependentmechanism automatically operated by said shaft to depress the support asthe machine stops, for the purpose set forth.

4. In a nailing-machine, a stock-support, means to periodically depressit to allow feedin g of the stock, a driving-shaft, an independentmechanism automatically operated by said shaft to depress the support asthe machine stops, and a device controlling and preventing the operationof said independent mechanism except at the completion of the operationand stopping of the machine, for the purpose set forth.

5. A stock-support, a spring to force said support upward with ayielding pressure, and mechanism to raise and lower said supportindependent of said spring, combined with mechanism operated by thedriving-shaft of the machine on which the stock-support is used to causesaid stock-support to rise at the first movement of the driving-shaftwhen the machine is started, and to lower at the time the driving-shaftis stopped, and a lock to lock said spring from exerting its upwardpressure on said support when said support is lowered by said mechanism,for the purpose set forth.

6. A stock-support, astartin g and stopping ering mechanism by theoperation of the start- Y ing-treadle when starting the machine, and tounlock said mechanism when said treadle is operated to stop the machine,for the purpose set forth,

7. Astock-support, mechanism operated by the driving-shaft of themachine on which said support is used, whereby the stock-support isautomatically raised and lowered respectively by the starting of thedriving-shaft and the stopping of the same, and a lock to hold saidsupport in its raised position until the drivingshaft has been stopped,for the purpose set forth.

8. Astock-support, mechanism operated by the driving-shaft of themachine on which said support is used, whereby the stock-support isautomatically raised and lowered respectively by the starting of thedriving-shaft and the stopping of the same, a lock to prevent theautomatic stock-support-lowerin g mechanism from lowering said supportuntil the drivingshaft is stopped, and a treadle connected with thestock-support, whereby the stock-support can be lowered or allowed torise independent of its automatic operating mechanism or said lock, forthe purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 29th day of November, A.D. 1895.

SOLOMON M. CUTTER.

\Vitnesses:

HENRY CHADBOURN, CHARLES W. JONES.

